Where the Streets Have No Name (Jennifer Lien)

As luck would have it, I interned at this company called New Line Cinema after my freshman year. That sentence makes me feel old now that I’m graduating soon. They made a bunch of movies that you’ve heard of, seen, and love very much. In a poor attempt to reference Drake, the rapper who will perform on Cornell’s Slope Day on May 7, 2010, my time at New Line Cinema was *the best I ever had*. Please don’t tell any of my other former employers. It is my past experience that makes it only fair that I speak about Time Warner (TW). Whether you and I want it to be or not, its presence is everywhere.

Time Warner is a big daddy when it comes to media and entertainment. The company isn’t the biggest of the daddies. But trust me, it’s up there. Its assets include subsidiaries in the Internet, publishing, film, communications, and television industries.

According to TW’s most recent consolidated financial statements, the majority of its revenue comes from cable subscriptions and distribution of content that surmount $36 billion. In relation of the kinds of assets that TW owns, there is no surprise that TW makes this kind of money every year. The vertical integration of magazines, television channels, websites, and motion picture companies allows TW product and content to be promoted and available to the public ubiquitously. Along with the breadth of media outlets, TW has depth to support and strengthen each one. Their magazines range from People to Time For Kids, television from HBO to Adult Swim, websites from The Smoking Gun to GameTap, and production companies like Warner Brothers.

In terms of traditional media and new media, media conglomerates like Time Warner are able to bridge this gap between to the two by using material from traditional media and using it as content for new media. Classic films are being re-released on Blu-Ray. Motion pictures are shown in theatres in IMAX and 3-D. We are starting to see more films made and based solely from novels. It makes you wonder where all the writers for Hollywood have gone. Rights to books are cheaper to buy than the work of a screenwriter. Movies like The Lord of the Rings, The Notebook, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and Harry Potter are some major examples. I thought my fascination with vampires would cease after author Stephenie Meyer’s creation of the Twilight Saga and Edward Cullen, a male vampire who has made millions of females swoon and hyperventilate. This is not the case. My fascination lives on. HBO had to perpetuate Charlaine Harris’ novels into this vampire-obsessed society with True Blood and really attractive villains like Eric Northman. There’s also The Vampire Diaries but I’ll pass.

Rated: from 6 votes

WHO AM I?

My name is Jennifer Lien. I also go by deviations of my first name. Jenn. Jenny. But please don’t call me Jenna. (That’s a whole other name.) I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York as a first generation Asian American. My family members were refugees who emigrated from Vietnam in the 1970s through the American Red Cross. I’ve always lived in New York City so I assume that that’s where I’ll settle and start my career though I am open to wherever life takes me.

WHAT DO I STUDY?

I am proof that the public school system in New York City can produce Ivy League bound students despite its many flaws and deprivations. Before majoring in Applied Economics and Management with concentrations in Marketing and Strategy, I studied Atmospheric Sciences. I think that I really wanted to be the weatherwoman who you tuned into during your 10 o’clock news on television. After I failed a computer science course, I knew that business was a better fit for me. Failing is a powerful reality check.

WHAT DO I CARE ABOUT?

When I am not in class, working, and studying, I spend some of my time with poker. I play online and live tournaments, read magazines and books, visit online forums, and watch television programs. I truly enjoy the camaraderie of communicating with other players. Even more so, I enjoy having to read other players’ verbal and non-verbal actions whether sincere or vulgar. It can be irritating when people who don’t play poker regard the game as one that is solely about luck – it is a game of mathematics, microeconomics, psychology, and luck.

I am not all about poker though. I love to travel and wish that I made more time to do so. I love learning about different cultures – its language, cuisine, customs, etc. I am convinced that there must be more to life than graduating from Cornell in May 2010 and then working for the rest of my life. This is why I am strongly considering that I join the Peace Corps. None of my friends believe me for some reason.

WHAT INTRIGUES ME ABOUT NEW MEDIA?

As a poker player, new media has revolutionized the way that the game is being played in an online setting. Understanding and reading players are not the same as a face-to-face environment. I am interested in how this changes communication. As someone who likes learning about others around her, new media has offered more ways to stay connected and explore what was once intangible. I hope to get a better understanding of the dynamics of the new media that I currently use and will learn about.

Rated: from 3 votes